Little Orphan Warners
by CJS51703
Summary: What starts as Wakko finding writing on his red baseball cap soon becomes a very emotional morning... (First Animaniacs fic!)


*****Hello, everyone! I bet this was a surprise, huh? Well, I am into the Animaniacs series, if you couldn't tell by this fanfic that showed up. I wrote it over the course of the school day, and I think-for my first ever fanfic in this series-it wasn't too bad. However, you are the judges. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot belong to the Warner Bros. Studios, and let's go!**

The shrill noise of an alarm clock sounded throughout the water tower. Seeing as it was on Yakko's nightstand, he was the one who shut it off. He sat up and was sure not to bump the ladder as Dot climbed down from her middle bunk. Not this time.

"Make sure you actually see Wakko wake up. You know that he falls asleep again... at least twice," Dot said. With that, she went to go get ready for another day.

Yakko's brain was a little muddled from sleep still, so he wound up getting ready first. The two walked back, only to hear the middle child still out cold and snoring on his top bunk. "You forgot something," Dot said, crossing her arms. "I'm sorry, but last I checked, you had Wakko-waking duties on Thursdays," Yakko shot back. Still, he went up the ladder and shook his brother. "Rise and shine!" he exclaimed.

Wakko groaned, but sat up and picked up his red ball cap, which he usually slept in. However, before he put it on, he noticed something. "Peter Warner," he read form the marker writing under the bill. He looked at his siblings. "My name's not Peter."

Dot shrugged. "It's not like it could be anyone else's. You've always worn that hat!" she said. "Actually, that hat was someone else's," Yakko corrected.

Wakko frowned. "I didn't mean to steal it from Peter. At least he had good taste," he said. "No, it was a gift. And as for Peter Warner, well..." Yakko decided that there was no better way to say it than to just rip the band-aid off...

"...he was our dad."

That had Wakko and Dot alike with slackened jaws and widened eyes. They glanced at each other, then to the oldest sibling.

"Do you guys remember anything about Mom and Dad?" Yakko asked. "...it's really faint, but I remember that Dad had my accent," Wakko recalled. "Not a thing," Dot said sadly.

Yakko walked over to his nightstand and began digging around in the top drawer. "I found something a while back. I guess now is the time for you to see it," he said.

Curious, Wakko and Dot sat down on the bottom bunk. A few minutes later, Yakko sat down in between them so he could show them what he'd dug out. "This was taken the day Dot was born," he said. His siblings looked at the picture.

"Dad looked a lot like you, Yakko," Dot said. Sure enough, Peter Warner-despite the red baseball cap he was wearing in the photo-looked a heck of a lot like his oldest son. "And Mom looks like you do, Dot! Down to the hair clip, even," Wakko said. Sure enough, their mother, although she looked tired and thin, resembled her daughter.

"Her name was Jasmine. And I'm not surprised that you guys don't remember them. We were six, three, and Dot, you were only six months old," Yakko said. Wakko and Dot had their ideas of what happened. However, they decided to enjoy the pretty picture before it was ruined.

Jasmine Warner was sitting in a hospital bed, holding newborn baby Dot. She looked thin, sick, and tired-her flower hair clip seemed stronger than here-but there was a smile on her face. Young Wakko was waving for the camera, tongue out. Little Yakko was grinning, showing a missing canine tooth. While the boys sat on the bed, Peter Warner stood next to his wife, an arm around her small frame.

However... pretty illusions are normally broken by harsh reality.

"What happened to them?" Wakko asked.

"Mom got really sick right before Dot was born. She and Dad spent a lot of time at the hospital, so I learned to look after you, Wakko. It wasn't like we could afford a good babysitter with all of the hospital bills. We were allowed to be at the hospital only to visit when Dot was born. Three months later, well... Mom died," Yakko explained.

The younger two were saddened, but not as much as the oldest. However, one more questions remained. "What happened to Dad?" Dot had to ask.

"He tried to look after us. He really did. But that effort only lasted a month. He started drinking... a lot. He spent most of his time out drinking, actually. And boy, was he angry when he was drunk." The words were tinged with sorrow when Yakko spoke them.

"Did he ever... you know... hit you?" Dot asked, hating the very thought. She hated it even more when she got a nod of confirmation.

"A lot. I made sure he never hit you guys, though. When he wanted to, I shot off my mouth to distract him. Why else do you think I"m so good at it?" Yakko asked. That did make sense, as much of a shock as it was.

"When did we get away?" Wakko asked.

"I eventually just decided that enough was enough. I didn't want you two to live with an abusive dad, or to live with the memories. So, one night when Dad was blackout drunk, I packed up some stuff and we all three left. I don't know if Dad's still alive," Yakko said. His next words came with a surprising bitterness.

"And I don't care to know."

He put the picture away in his nightstand, and he began to walk away. Until he felt a slight tug on his belt from behind. "Yes?" he said evenly, not turning around.

"If you could bring the old Mom and Dad back, would you?" Wakko asked. Dot braced herself for one of her older brothers to get really angry. However, that didn't happen.

Yakko turned back around and sighed, exasperation on his face. "I wish I could sometimes. Because there are days when it gets really hard being the one in charge all the time. If you saw how worried I really get sometimes over you guys, then you would both be just as wound up. But the acting lessons must've paid off," he explained.

Dot reached over and gently pulled him to sit back in his place, this time for support. "But you do a great job with us!" she said, hugging him. "We're still here and well, aren't we?" Wakko added.

A slight smile crossed Yakko's face. "Yeah," he said quietly. He put his arms gently around his siblings, his smile widening.

"I guess I do."

*****Alright. Even if you guys think this is bad (and some of you probably do, but this was my first attempt...), there is something you cannot change my mind about. And that is the fact that Wakko Warner is the patron saint of all middle kids out there, myself included. Anyways, be sure to leave a review on the way out, and I'll see you all in the next one! Bye!**


End file.
